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Russia apparently flexing its muscles as a Middle East player, has hosted a Hamas delegation after the Palestinians elected the terror organization to run their government. The Russian invitation to terrorists who vow to exterminate Israel has naturally angered Israel: however, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has chosen to take President Vladimir Putin at his word about never harming Israels vital interests. But the Hamas visit and Russia's sale of nuclear know-how to Iran, which also talks about wiping Israel off the map, raise questions about the nature of Russia's links to Israels enemies.

The Israeli election campaign is finally moving into high gear. The opposition parties are stepping up their drives to try and catch up with acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Kadima before election-day on march 28. this, as Olmerts Kadima party dips in the latest polls.

Jerusalem and Washington apparently differ over whether Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should be shored up in light of the Hamas election victory. The fact that an extreme terrorist organization, which vows to exterminate the Jewish state, is about to take control of the Palestinian Authority has aroused different reactions both in and out of Israel.

The Israeli election campaign is about to enter the home stretch with a host of burning issues on Israels national agenda. The fallout from the Hamas election victory and the looming Iranian nuclear threat will be dominating the race. Kadimas Ehud Olmert is maintaining his lead while Labors Amir Peretz and Netanyahus Binyamin Netanyahu toil to close the gap. At the same time, Palestinian terrorists continue to launch more rockets and Israeli security forces step up the counter-terror campaign. Former Shabak security chief now allied to Olmert has been assessing developments.

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ran into heavy flak from right-wingers when he made his first appearance before the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee. However, Olmert apparently gave as much as he got in the stinging exchanges. Top of his agenda was how to cope with the Palestinian Authority now being run by Hamas terrorists who threaten to exterminate Israel.

After the new Hamas-lead Palestinian parliament declared No to halting terrorism, recognizing Israel and prior agreements, the Israeli cabinet announced a series of sanctions. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert responded by calling the Palestinian Authority a terrorist authority. The Israeli cabinet then imposed a series of sanctions. They included the freezing of tax revenues to the PA and stepping up security checks on Palestinian workers entering Israel. However, Israel would not interfere with humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people. Dr. Dan Schueftan, a Middle East expert at Haifa University, analyzed these developments and other aspects in a wide-ranging interview with reporter David Essing:

Shabak Security Chief Yuval Diskin has presented his assessment of the threat to Israel posed by the Hamas take-over of the Palestinian Authority. In a briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, Diskin warned that Hamas may bide its time in the short run in order to build its military power but its ultimate goal is to exterminate Israel.

Saturday, February 18th, 2006: Hamas, a terror organization linked to al Qaeda, takes control of the Palestinian parliament. In reaction, the Israeli cabinet is to consider a series of sanctions when it convenes on Sunday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Israeli government are now facing a major dilemma after Russian President Vladimir Putin officially invited Hamas leaders to visit Moscow. Although the terror organization still vows to annihilate Israel, Putin says the Palestinians elected it to power in a democratic election and Hamas should be treated accordingly. Israeli leaders and the country at large are furious at what is being called 'Russia's stab in the back'; however Prime Minister Ehud Olmert must now block any international legitimizing of Hamas without causing a major rift with President Putin.

Delegates from Jewish communities from around the globe gathered in Jerusalem for the conference of the World Jewish Congress. More than 80 countries were represented from all the continents. The Iranian nuclear threat and the virulent anti- Semitic campaign by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cast its shadow over the conference that discussed the situation with several experts. Rabbi Yisrael Singer, Chairman of the Policy Council of the World Jewish Congress, summed up what is called the 'parliament' of the Jewish people. Rabbi Singer also accompanied German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her tour of the Jerusalem's Yad VaShem Memorial to the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust.

In his first sit-down interview, Israel's Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel will evacuate parts of the West Bank in order to separate from the Palestinians. But as previously reported by IsraCast, he spoke of retaining settlement blocs. He named name this time: Ma'ale Adumim, Gush Etzion and Ariel. Meanwhile, the Israeli security forces are stepping up their targeted killing operations by hitting terrorists launching Qassam rockets at Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip. Israel unilaterally evacuated Gaza last summer but Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has refused to order his tens of thousand of security forces to halt the rocketing of Israel. However, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan does not approve.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is apparently seeking a solution to the election victory of Hamas, an organization that vows to destroy the Jewish state. Abbas has reportedly informed Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that the outcome of the Palestinian election is 'irrelevant'. If so, does this mean that Abbas is trying to subvert the election result or that he has struck a deal to be Hamas 'front man'. In the Israeli election campaign, Olmert's rival are trying to make election capital out of the bloody clash between Israeli policemen and settlers during the demolition of the illegal West Bank settlement of Amona that resulted in other two hundred Israelis being hurt.

Shalom Harari, a top Israeli expert on the Palestinians, analyzes the new emerging situation after the stunning Hamas victory in the Palestinian election. Interviewed by IsraCast, Harari says the Hamas rise to power has implications far beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Harari is a reserve Brigadier-General in the IDF intelligence corps and is on the staff of the Counter-Terror Policy Center at the Herzliya Inter-Disciplinary Institute. Listen to the impact of the Hamas victory on Palestinian society, Israel, the Middle East and the international arena.

Violence was expected when Israeli police were sent to evict some two thousand angry settlers who barricaded themselves inside the illegal outpost of Amona on the West Bank. However, the clash turned more bloody and ugly than most expected. When it was over, one Israeli policeman was in serious condition and some 115 Israelis were lightly injured. Bulldozers then enforced the ruling by Israel's Supreme Court to demolish the nine buildings at the outpost. But the question is what will happen next time if there is a further escalation in the violence?

A major upheaval in the Palestinian leadership - the terror organization Hamas has swept into power in the Palestinian election. Hamas won 76 seats in the 132-member parliament. Fatah led by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas trailed far behind taking only 43 seats. Get used to the name of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, which sent some 50-suicide bombers to murder and maim Israelis over the past five years. What happens now? In an interview with IsraCast, Dr. Dan Schueftan of Haifa University analyzes various aspects.

In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, tens of thousands of Palestinian are now voting in an historic election. For the first time, Hamas is running and challenging the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction. Hamas is a terror organization whose charter calls for the extermination of Israel. The implications are enormous for the future of the Roadmap peace process. Hours before the Palestinians went to the polls, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared that he was ready to give up territory in order to establish a permanent border with a Jewish majority. If possible by negotiation, if not Israel would do it by another way.

Chief of Staff Dan Halutz declared the IDF is about to implement two rulings by Israel's Supreme Court on two illegal settler sites. The illegal Amona outpost on the West Bank would be demolished by January 31st. In addition, illegal Jewish settlers will be evicted from the controversial Hebron market area. In a briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, General Halutz disclosed there is no agreement on the Gaza terminals after Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz had early implied that there was such a deal with Egypt and the Palestinians.

Steven Spielberg's controversial film 'Munich', about to be viewed in Israel, is sparking a firestorm. Former officials of Mossad, Israel's secret service, have lambasted the movie from start to finish. Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit accuses Spielberg of basing the film on a bogus book that bears no resemblance to what actually happened. 'Yonatan', a former Mossad agent, who actually took part in the operation to execute all the Palestinian terrorists involved in the murder of the eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, said there is nothing authentic in the film. That included the portrayal of 'Avner' the main character.

Is there a connection between the Iranian-Syrian backing for the latest Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv and Osama bin Laden's new threat to attack the U.S? There may not be at present, but if Iran is allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, it may be just a matter of time before terror organizations such as Al Qaeda and Islamic Jihad also go nuclear.

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held his first news conference spelling out his position on the looming Iranian nuclear threat and the Palestinian election next week. Olmert left no doubt where he stands on the recent threats by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about Israel being 'wiped off the map' as Tehran renews its nuclear weapons program in defiance of international criticism. In a new development, the acting PM is sending a delegation to Moscow. Russia is building the Iranian nuclear reactor at busher. As for the Palestinians, Olmert said he hoped to reach a permanent peace agreement with Mahmoud Abbas but within the Roadmap framework.